Can Robots Be Our Friends?

I know the answer to that question for me personally is an undeniable YES! just look at the cute, awesome robots that the Yale-led research team have been working on. The group, under the direction of Yale Computer Science Professor Brian Scassellati will spend the next five years developing a new breed of sophisticated “socially assistive” robots for helping people overcome cognitive disabilities.

The purpose of the $10 million, federally funded effort, announced April 3, is to create self-adapting machines capable of cultivating long-term interpersonal relationships and assisting pre-school-age children with educational and therapeutic goals.

“The big idea is that we’re building robots to help kids. At the end of five years we’d like to have robots that can guide a child toward long-term educational goals, be customized for the particular needs of that child, and basically grow and develop with the child. We want the robot to be the equivalent of a good personal trainer.” -Scassellati